22 DECEMBER 2014: India 2 buy UAV frm US n Helicoptor frm Russia

Ø  India and the U.S. are negotiating a deal for the purchase of high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). An agreement or announcement to this effect is likely when U.S. President Barack Obama visits India as the chief guest for the Republic Day ceremony next month. Though the variant and the numbers are not known, it has been learnt that the UAV in question is most likely the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, a non-combat drone and the largest unmanned aircraft system built by the U.S. Global Hawk is a HALE Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) with extraordinary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, providing near-real time, high resolution imagery of large geographical areas both during the day and night, in all types of weather. The Global Hawk has an endurance of over 24 hours and can operate at an altitude of 60,000 feet. The U.S. has extensively deployed it in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kamov 226T helicoptor

Ø  Following the in-principle agreement reached by India and Russia for the production of Russian helicopters in India, both sides are carrying out discussions to work out the details to quickly conclude a deal. Initially the helicopters will be used to meet the requirements of the Indian armed forces and only after that will exports happen. This effectively means that the utility helicopter deal, which was earlier cancelled as a global tender and changed into “Buy and Make” category under the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), will go the Russian way. Russian Deputy Premier Dmitry Rogozin who accompanied President Vladimir Putin to India on December 11 has said “the understanding is to assemble 400 advanced Kamov-226T helicopters per year built by Russian technologies in India.” On the operational front, Russian choppers are known for their ruggedness and the Indian Armed Forces have been using them for decades. Russian Mi-17 choppers are the mainstay of the Indian Air Force used in diverse roles from search and rescue to VIP transport. On the new line of submarines under Project-75I, Russia is open to technology transfer and joint production of diesel-electric submarines. India has submitted its requirements and the Russian side has responded with attractive options.

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Ø  In a key move towards strengthening the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) following the experience of dealing with the Jammu and Kashmir floods, the Narendra Modi government has chosen specialists in disaster management as its members. The government is likely to issue in a couple of days the order appointing Kamal Kishore, a disaster management expert with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); D.N. Sharma, Director of the Health Safety and Environment Group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC); and Lieutenant-General (retired) N.C. Marwah.